No question about Andrew's heritage

Andrew was watching a "Charlie and Lola" cartoon this morning in which Lola is listing all the foods she doesn't like. One of them was cheese.

Andrew said, "She doesn't like cheese? That's impossible!!!"

Andrew has a "festive snack" for his first day of 2nd grade

Andrew started 2nd grade yesterday. He had a letter home from his teacher before the first day of school saying he should bring a snack. He said "How about something festive for the first day of school?" Turns out that a "festive snack" is goldfish crackers (mini-cheddars in the shape of goldfish).

His first day went well too. His friend Javid is both on his bus (and they're sitting together) and in his class. He had to bring in something for show and tell that had to do with his summer vacation to help him introduce himself and he brought his "Golden Wenlock" - a stuffed animal he got at the Olympics. Apparently the other kids were very interested.

Ali Starts Middle School!

Alison started middle school yesterday. My friend Janet told me that one of the things that many kids find difficult is using the combination locks on the lockers. So I had Ali practice on one at home a few days ago. She said it was difficult at first, but quickly became an expert. So much so that yesterday she brought the lock to school to show her friends, and helped a bunch of people in the locker room learn how to open them.

Overall I haven't heard much about the first day, but it seems to have gone well. She's got two friends in her homeroom which is wonderful (it's a really big school!)

Two cute thoughts from Andrew

I've had these sitting around on scraps of paper for ages, finally I'm typing them in:

1. Andrew was working on an assignment in school about recycling and coloring in a picture about "saving broken crayons" and he told me how funny it was, because he used a broken crayon to color it in!
2. "Mom, it's amazing, cheese goes well with everything!"

Andrew Can't Decide

A couple of weeks ago we were playing a game of "Who Knew" in which you are given cards with random things listed on them and you have to rank them in order from favorite to least favorite. In one game, Andrew got the following cards (I noted them down and finally have gotten around to typing this):

• Snakes
• The color red
• Bubble bath
• Ping pong

Andrew said something like "Wow, this is so hard! They're all so great I can't decide which I like best!!"

The good day continued ...

For a variety of reasons I didn't  make it upstairs to bed until 2:00 this morning, when I discovered Ali reading - she said she couldn't sleep. So I got her to turn out the light and we chatted quietly for a bit to try and calm her down. While I was telling her that she was the best little girl in the whole world, she told me I was the best mom in the world ... other than herself when she becomes a mom :-)

"A good day to be a parent" or "A good parent today"

Andrew fell and hurt his thumb yesterday afternoon while "trying out his new sneakers [trainers]." We visited the pediatrician this morning who sent us for an x-ray (good news - no fracture!)

While Andrew and I were waiting I taught him to play hangman. I gave him some good puzzles, including "Andrew," "Star Wars," and "Harry Potter."

But the ones he did for me were just lovely:

• I love you
• You are a good mom
• You are cool
• I love mom and dad

Ahhh ...